Amazon announced its new Kindle Fire HDX tablets in America on September 25, but news of an international release wasn’t provided. When Amazon first released the Kindle Fire, it took several months to arrive in the UK and other countries, but thankfully the wait isn’t so long this time. The new Kindle Fire HD, the Fire HDX, and the Fire HDX 8.9 are all now available as pre-orders through Amazon UK.
If you want the basic Kindle Fire HD, then it’s £130 for the 8GB or £150 for the 16GB model. Moving on to the Kindle Fire HDX, you’ll need to spend £200, £230, or £260 for the 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB tablet respectively. Finally, the top of the line Fire HDX 8.9 is £330, £370, or £410. If you don’t mind Amazon’s special offers, you can deduct £10 from each one of these prices.
UK network Vodafone has snagged exclusive rights to provide a connection for the 4G LTE versions of the Fire HDX models (read our Kindle Fire HDX Review), at least for the foreseeable future. How much extra must you pay for the joy of fast data on the go? Regardless of which model you order – 4G is available on each Fire HDX and Fire HDX 8.9 – £70 will be added to the final price. For example, a 16GB Fire HDX will be £270, and the 16GB Fire HDX 8.9 is £400.
Interestingly, Amazon hasn’t removed its Mayday button from the UK model. Mayday provides free technical support, through chat and video, from Amazon all day, everyday, and really separates the Fire HDX from any other tablet. Services like this can often be lost when moving products around the world, so it’s good to see it remains here. The lack of a language barrier probably helps.
If you’re already on your way to order a new Fire HDX tablet, shipping won’t begin until next month. The 7-inch Fire HDX is set for November 13, while the standard Wi-Fi Fire HDX 8.9 won’t leave until November 19. If you want the basic Fire HD, it’s on sale from October 24. As for the 4G models, Vodafone says they’ll be sold on Pay As You Go and with monthly contracts in November, while Amazon’s order page states a November 27 release for the 4G 7-inch HDX and December 13 for the 4G 8.9-inch tablet.
